


Exile

by freakishmatrix



Category: The Bold Type
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-31
Updated: 2017-09-03
Packaged: 2018-12-22 07:02:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11962194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/freakishmatrix/pseuds/freakishmatrix
Summary: Post 1x09. Adena's denied entry to the US, she's on the plane back to her home country, which feels anything but home.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I took some creative liberties. Nothing that the writers themselves haven't done already, e.g. where is Adena's phone? What is her visa status in Paris? What happened to Adena's status in her country when the State Department got involved in the dildo-gate? Why is she traveling home and not back to Paris?

Adena had just got more or less comfortable in her seat when a flight attendant informed her that “a lady at the gate just gave her the spot in the first class cabin”. Smiling through tears, Adena made her way to the upper deck. Not only did she get an individual seat, it could turn into a private cabin with a click of a button. Adena took a look at the welcome leaflet. She could order a la carte at any moment of the flight, however, if she wanted to take a shower, she had to book it in advance. Adena closed her eyes for a moment, grateful that Kat made this crazy leap and then passed on the extravagantly expensive ticket. Before the memories of soft kisses in the mezzanine turned into salty tears, Adena’s thoughts were interrupted by a flight attendant asking if she wanted to have a drink.  
  
“Still water, please. And can I book the shower?”  
  
Adena felt like praying and crying and eating all at once. Though she told Kat that it was worth the risk, the truth was that it was stupid of her not to book a safety-net flight back to Paris. For a moment her tears dried up and she had an idea. Now that her access to the US had been compromised and there was no other place on the face of the earth that she would rather be, she had to be pragmatic. In the side compartment, she found a notepad and a pen and started jotting down the plan.  
  
A couple of hours into the flight, after some French toast and coffee for breakfast, she was kindly informed that her shower was ready. The water gave her a sense of comfort as if she had been home and once she had emerged from it, she would have seen Kat in the other room, doing all the things she had dreamt of while anticipating their reunion on the flight to New York. The harsh reality set in once she heard a pilot’s message. She had never taken a shower on the plane before. At least she had an opportunity to enjoy this luxury.  
  
Dressed in Air Nazir’s pajamas, Adena intended to sleep the immigration nightmare off for the rest of the flight. The plan, devised, written down and now hidden in her purse, gave her peace of mind. The flight attendant kindly insisted on making her bed, which Adena, tired as she was, had no problem letting her do.  
  
She woke up somewhere above Norway or Sweden. If she could have landed there, it would not have even mattered where, life would have been much easier. The terrifying thought of landing back home was finally catching up with her. She ordered cherry brioche pudding to distract herself from what lay behind her and what might lie ahead.  
  
When the 13-hour flight finally landed, Adena seamlessly detoured in the direction of the duty-free shops at the gates away from the passport control. She had no intention of actually making it home. In the electronics shop, she bought a new phone and a pre-paid SIM card. She fought an urge to immediately FaceTime Kat. She connected to airport’s free Wi-Fi and restored data from her old phone. She texted Kat that she had landed. A few seconds later her phone was lit up from a dozen of Kat’s messages. It was show time.  
  
Adena went to the Air France desk. It was an early morning but someone was already there. She thought of Kat and how her hand had let go at the last moment and she had decided to stay in New York. She thought about her impulsive move to Paris and not giving Kat a chance. Regret did the trick and jerked a tear.  
  
“My sister!” Adina shook the phone hysterically in her hand. “I just landed and I got a message.”  
  
She was out of breath.  
  
“She’s in hospital. I have to go to Paris.”  
  
“Ma'am?”  
  
“I just flew from New York and I got a message that my sister is in hospital. I need to fly to Paris immediately.”  
  
“I’ll see what I can do, ma'am. Yes, we have seats available.”  
  
“My bag is in the luggage claim. Could someone fetch it, please?”  
  
“Ma'am, this is highly unorthodox.”  
  
Adena thought of Kat licking her lips when she saw her naked. That could have been her reality every day if not the stupid immigration, if not the impulsive decisions. She shook her head in obvious distress and pressed against the desk with her elbows, head in her hands.  
  
“I’ll see what I can do, ma'am.”  
  
Adena passed her the ticket with her luggage sticker on.  
  
“Unfortunately, you have to go to the Air Nazir’s desk for that, ma'am.”  
  
Adena had anticipated that. She didn’t know what kind of arrangement the US immigration had with her home airline but as long as she wasn’t on American soil, she couldn’t see how they would have a say in what she did.  
  
Two scenarios played in her head. One in which Air Nazir would not take her word for flying out without a ticket. The second one is them making her go through immigration despite the ticket and then it was all in some officer’s hands again. The flight was in less than three hours so this was a risk she had to take. She booked the ticket and checked-in. She could always add her luggage later but this way the flight would not leave without her.  
  
Unfortunately, Air Nazir was having none of it.  
  
“We can’t pick up your luggage, miss. I see no reason why you can’t do it yourself.”  
  
Adena’s blood boiled a bit. How hard could it be to find a suitcase on the other side of the immigration control and bring it back into the terminal?  
  
“Respectfully, I am afraid I won’t make it in time through immigration twice.”  
  
The truth was she was afraid she wouldn’t make it through even once.  
  
“Ma'am, you have to follow the standard procedure. We don’t have logistics for this.”  
  
“But this is my connection, not the destination. Is there a way to create logistics? I just flew from New York, my sister is sick in Paris, here is my Air France ticket, I’m leaving in just a couple of hours.”  
  
“If you had booked with Air Nazir, I would be able to assist you.”  
  
_I was hoping I wouldn’t have to deal with Air Nazir ever again_ , Adena thought.  
  
“So there is a way to get the luggage in that case?”  
  
“Then we would direct it to your final destination. May I suggest you go through the passport control and collect it yourself?”  
  
Nothing bad would happen to her at the passport control unless she had pissed off the authorities with her dildo stunt and her appearance would raise alarms in the system. Local laws could be very unforgiving. Could the suitcase full of clothes be of that much value? Everything of worth was in her hand luggage anyway.  She would just have to leave the suitcase behind. She needed mock luggage though, not to raise any flags as a Muslim traveling from a Muslim country on a ticket booked just a couple of hours before the flight with no change of clothes.  
  
Adena hit the shops. She bought a sensible travel bag because she wouldn’t have time to check it in. She bought some jeans and a few shirts, changed the shop and got some shoes. She had to remove all the tags. In addition to throwing in some complimentary items from the first-class kit, she also stuffed her camera bag in. The final touch, she wrote her name and Parisian address on the tag.  
  
When the bag looked lived-in enough, she got herself a coffee. She could catch a breather and finally FaceTime Kat.


	2. Chapter 2

“Adena!”

“Kat.”

Adena sipped her coffee. Her whole body relaxed into a leather chair and her consciousness blocked out the airport.

“How are you? Are you OK? Did you arrive home OK?”

“I’m flying to Paris. My flight leaves in 20 minutes.”

“Oh my God! You’re going to Paris? I can totally come and visit you.”

Adena chuckled. It was Kat all over again, with spontaneous plans, overwhelming excitement and multiple things firing all at once.

“Yes, you can. Let me just set my foot on the ground away from these damn airports.”

She smiled and Kat smiled and the whole world stood still.

“I miss you.” They both said at once. Adena tittered, put her hand over her mouth and blew Kat a kiss.

“Thank you for the first class seat. It was, um, refreshing.”

Adena looked at her gate. They were making the final boarding call.

“Kat, I will call you when I land and we’ll figure it out, ok?”

“Oh, ok. Have a nice flight then!”

“Thank you and good night.” Adena kissed the phone and waved.

She had to call her mother. She hadn’t been in touch with her for a couple of days. Last she heard was that her dad’s business received pressure from the auditors and that her home got anonymous calls asking for her. All of this gave her no doubt in her mind that she wouldn’t be welcome home by the authorities.

“Maamaan!”

“Adena, how are you? Where are you?”

“I’m at the airport. I’m leaving for France.”

“You decided not to stay in New York?”

Adena retold her American immigration nightmare to which her mother said, “No, no-no-no! Whatever you do, you can’t come home.”

“I know, Maamaan! I’m boarding as we speak.”

The reason why she called her literally one foot in the jet bridge was that she couldn’t risk being arrested in case her mother’s phone was tapped.

“I’ll call you from Paris. I love you.”

She handed her ticket for scanning and walked the bridge to the plane.

_Economy class, how refreshing._

This long day seemed to have no end and no beginning for her mind started to blur out some events turning them into a distant dream that had happened to somebody else. Adena took out the camera and looked through the pictures she took of Kat in their pillow fort. Thank God for the photography but she wished there had been a way to physically capture the moment of them lying in their makeshift bed, the sweet kisses that Kat showered upon her, the softness of their bodies rubbing against each other. Adena closed her eyes and bit her lower lip. That should never become a blur. This crazy 36-hour day would never erase how serene she felt lying in Kat’s arms.

The pilot announced that they were just waiting for some passengers from connecting flights. Adena wished they had left already. She took out the notes she had made on the flight from New York and a thought crossed her mind. ' _Asylum???_ ' she wrote under everything. That would require figuring out if she indeed was wanted in her country and maybe asking Kat to help her with what State Department knew. Maybe she did need to take her up on the ‘crazy amazing lawyer’ offer.

She looked back at the camera screen and zoomed in on Kat’s face. _We just need to get you a taste of adventure, Kat Edison._ Her index finger touched Kat’s cheek. With an American passport, the world was her oyster, yet she was afraid to jump. Something was telling Adena that Kat would definitely jump this time.

The plane was finally moving away from the gate towards the runway. Adena put the camera away and moved the bag under the front seat. She was about to fall asleep thinking about a new project. Being thrown around the world like a pinball gave her an idea. Europe, with its refugee crisis, was a perfect place for it. The best part was that Kat could join her at any point for as long as she could and they would be able to have this adventure together.

“Cabin crew, prepare for take-off.”

Adena drifted into a peaceful slumber.


	3. Chapter 3

It was late lunch time when Adena landed in Charles de Gaulle. The passport control routine went just like any other dozen and a half times that she returned to Paris. Adena caught a train into the city and arrived at the apartment she had left mere two days before. There, in the safety of the place she used to call home for several years before moving to New York, away from the world and judgement, alone, she could finally pray.

Freshly showered and in clean clothes, she performed Salah with the full intention to surrender her fate to Allah. Come what may, if the desires of her heart had backfired twice, maybe there was an easier way if she just surrendered herself to the ultimate and only Ruler of the Universe.

Afterwards, focused and determined, she made herself an espresso and started googling locations of the refugee camps. Her research was interrupted by Kat’s FaceTime call. It was late morning back in New York and she was calling from her flat.

“I see you got rid of the bed bugs!”

“Yeah, I’m back to sleeping alone. How’s Paris?”

“So far, non-existent. I need to go out, though, I have no food except coffee.”

“Don’t tell me coffee doesn’t count. It’s practically a fruit. It’s my five a day! Whatcha doin’?”

“I’m going to reach out to some help organizations to see what can come out of this new project I’m working on. I think it’ll take me outside of France for a bit again.”

“Oh? What project? Where?”

“Refugee crisis. I was thinking Italy and Greece are an obvious choice. I think people need to see what’s been going on for years and get educated so they can open their homes instead of closing the borders. I want to share their stories.”

“This is what I love about you, you care about others.”

“It’s not entirely out of the blue, you know. My parents were refugees and now I’m not entirely welcome in my own country. It’s hard enough to be a stranger but it is so much worse when all the doors get slammed in your face. I have Paris, they literally have nothing but prejudice against them.”

Adena didn’t mean to get all political but her own unsettling experience made her want to channel her frustration into something that would bring awareness and understanding. Yet, she didn’t mean to unleash it all on Kat, who looked flustered and taken aback a little by Adena’s forcefulness.

“Wait, why aren’t you at work?”

“Maybe because it’s Saturday, duh!”

Adena felt very disoriented.

“How very Phileas Fogg of me. I have no idea what day it is and my body still believes it’s in New York.”

She shifted in her seat at the memory of ten hours at the airport. What she really meant was that she wished her body had still been in New York, though her mind had moved on for the sake of its sanity.

“How’s work?”

“Dunno, Jane’s leaving and it feels like everyone is moving on and I’m too scared to do anything with my life.”

“I’m sure that’s not true.”

“Sutton got the job of her dreams. Jane is moving on to Incite. You’re back in Paris planning your new big humanitarian project. What am I doing? I got an assistant and two employees.”

“You love your job, Kat.”

“I wish I hadn’t chickened out. I wish I had gone with you.”

“First of all, I never made it where you thought you would be going. Secondly, Kat, you still can. It’s much faster going direct rather than through the Middle East, you know.”

“And French is easier to learn.”

“Oh, you think, huh? Well, if you do decide to come, I suggest you learn survival Italian instead because we’ll be going to Italy.”

Kat’s eyes sparkled at the thought of adventure, the sight Adena had seen twice before already.

“Kat, take a vacation and come for a week or two.”

“Yeah, my parents aren’t exactly cool with me wasting all their miles so that might be a problem.”

And it was Kat all over again. However, Adena had surrendered herself, at least for today.

“Have you told your parents why you did it?”

“No, but I’m sure they really want to know. My mom has been calling me non-stop.”

“Maybe you should talk to her?”

“Yeah, I don’t know if I’m ready to go to therapy just yet.”

“You can start small.”

“I’m not sure I’m ready to label myself.”

“You don’t have to. Kat, it’s not ‘all or nothing’. You don’t have to label yourself or come out in order to tell your story. You don’t have to drop your life and friends in order to have an adventure. You don’t need your parents’ blessing to have a holiday.”

“I need my parents’ money if I want to go to Europe.”

“Don’t you work? Aren’t you a Social Media director at one of the top magazines in the country?”

“Yeah, about that. I can’t take a vacation now. Jacqueline just expanded my department and I have to manage three people.”

Adena wished there’d been a way to unwrap all Kat’s layers of defense against her true self but she didn’t want to take away her freedom of choice. Kat needed to make her own decisions and Adena needed time to process her own life.

“Ça va, mon amie. It doesn’t have to be tonight or even this month. Let me check if the US changed the status of my extension application.”

Adena’s hands were shaking as she typed in her details on the State Department website. She didn’t really expect to be denied visa just yet, still, it could have been the moment of truth.

“Nothing. In this case, no news is OK news.”

“Do you want me to find a lawyer? I can ask Jacqueline.”

“Thanks but there is not much we can do for now.”

“I miss you.”

“I miss you too, mon chéri.”

"I have to go, we have this gala at work and I need to make sure I won’t screw up as a boss.”

“I’m sure you’ll be great.”

Adena sat in limbo for some time. Then she texted Sarah, her long-time university friend, ‘ _Want to go out for dinner? It’s been a while._ ’ She wanted to stand still for a moment. She wanted stability. She also wanted Kat, who seemed to be in dire need of self-discovery.

She got a text back, ‘ _Sure, the usual place?_ '

Manoeuvering Paris's picture-perfect narrow streets, Adena took a selfie and sent it to Kat, ‘ _On the way to have some real food, xoxo._ ’


	4. Chapter 4

In the following couple of weeks, Adena mapped out her project. She would start with what used to be The Calais Jungle and create a series of portraits with personal stories of people left behind when the camp had been evicted. She would give Kat time to decide what she wanted before moving on to Italy, which had so many African voices that needed to be heard. She was particularly interested in covering the women trafficking story, however, due to the heavy subject matter, she wanted Kat to make up her mind first before she made any arrangements.

Their calls had been as regular as always but there were topics Kat would avoid at all costs. She even stopped asking Adena about her itinerary after Adena mentioned that she was planning her work around Kat’s possible visit. Adena was becoming more and more frustrated with the way Kat handled her emotions. A few times too many she would bite her tongue not to say something that would make Kat shut down. Eventually, she stopped talking about Italy altogether.

On the last night in Paris, Adena wanted to enjoy the freedom of being a legal resident of Paris. She knew she would identify with the refugees on a personal level, so she decided to take out Sarah, who volunteered to assist her in this venture, for the last supper. Before she left, she habitually checked the Department of State website for her visa status. She had been doing it daily but her status had been the same, so far, _not denied_.

However, this time she had been finally granted the visa extension. Adena could not believe it. _Didn’t those people know she had been denied entry? Don’t they have a common database?_ She realized that she had applied for the extension in New York, so she needed to contact the embassy in Paris for new arrangements. She hoped they wouldn’t make her reapply because then she would have to tick the box _“Have you ever been denied entrance to the US?”_ However, for now, she was content, half-sure that it was a mistake and uncertain as to how to obtain the actual thing in Paris, but content that the wait was over.

Adena would have called Kat had she not been running late so she texted her instead. _‘Have good news. FT, my midnight? xxx’_

_‘Have news myself. See you then!’_

Adena came home around midnight, courtesy of Paris’s restaurants that serve dinner around American bed-time. Together with Sarah they went over the schedule and shared last minute research into what they are actually about to find in what used to be an overcrowded refugee camp where people had lived for years. Adena felt like a hypocrite leading the life of privilege where her two only obstacles have been a middle-eastern passport and overconfidence that she can cross any border.

Adena relaxed on the couch and looked at the travel bag she had bought as a mock carry on. She smiled - in the hindsight, every problem has a potential to become an adventure. She would carry just that bag on the train to Calais tomorrow. And then the phone rang and they spoke both at once.

“OK, what’s your good news?”

“My work visa has been approved.”

“Oh my god, that’s awesome. When are you coming to New York?”

“Kat, I can’t do that now. I’m leaving for Calais for a week tomorrow. Also, I didn’t apply for the visa in Paris, I don’t know what’s the procedure.”

“I can google that.”

“Ha, maybe you can contact the embassy for me while I’m gone.”

“On it!”

“Kat, I’m kidding.”

“I’m not. Whatever gets you to New York faster.”

“Might be another month. I’m going to Italy after that. I’ve partnered with Help Refugees.”

“Where to exactly?”

“Everywhere. Sicily, Naples, Rome.”

“Oh.”

“What’s your news?”

“I told my parents!”

“You told your parents?!”

“About you. About us!”

“How did it go?”

“My mom said that it explains my inability to commit to having a boyfriend. My dad thinks I’m having a late teenage rebellion phase.”

“Ouch!”

“I think he’s pissed off about the miles. But he’s cool. The news is actually that I can come visit you. They were happy I opened up and volunteered to send me to visit you.”

“You can come to Paris and we can take in both France and Italy. How long are you coming for?”

“Luckily, I haven’t taken a single vacation day in three years, so Jacqueline is fine with two weeks. Is that OK?”

“Perfect! When are you going to book the flight?”

“Now?”

“OK, let’s do it. I’ll be back in a week. So it’s better if you arrive the following day.”

“K, there is Delta.”

“Yeah, Delta’s good, not cheap though.”

“My parents are paying.”

“Book Delta then!”

“Shall I maybe not book the return ticket and we can come back together?”

“My deportation wasn’t enough?”

“OK, OK! You have a point! K, done! I can’t believe I’m going to Europe!”

“Just board this time, OK?”

“I know, I know. I miss you.”

“I miss you, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK, lovely people who have read this far! Unfortunately, this might be the last time I'm able to update till the finale and this whole story might not be pertinent then. We'll see, but this might be it.


End file.
